


the dreams all feel so real

by Notabeautifullittlefool



Category: DC's Legends of Tomorrow (TV)
Genre: F/F, Hurt/Comfort, Nightmare, soft
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-08
Updated: 2019-04-08
Packaged: 2020-01-06 18:00:39
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,058
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18393515
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Notabeautifullittlefool/pseuds/Notabeautifullittlefool
Summary: The clone thing is still haunting Ava, even in her dreams





	the dreams all feel so real

**Author's Note:**

> I’ve had this in my wip folder for a while, and once the sizzle reel for 4b came out, i finally decided to finish it. So i reworked it a bit based on that. 
> 
> I haven’t posted much of anything lately, so i hope it doesn’t disappoint

Ava looked around the dark room as she tried to figure out where she was. She and Sara had been investigating the appearance of a possible fugitive in the future when she felt a sharp pain at the back of her head, and her world went dark.

 

The first thing Ava was aware of was that Sara was nowhere to be found. The realization panicked her. As she tried to stand up, she got a better view of her surroundings as additional lights clicked on. It looked like some sort of warehouse, but for what she couldn’t figure out. There were conveyor lines, sorting tubes, and some sort of packaging material. The clank of her shoes against the metal grate below her sounded deafening against the silence around her.

 

Turning around slowly, she realized she was standing on an overlook, giving her a clear view of the products the warehouse was producing. Ava leaned down to get a better look and immediately recoiled in horror- on the top of the pile, eyes closed and body stiff, was a body and face that looked exactly like hers.

 

Her hand flew up to her forehead as she paced back and forth on the platform. Somehow she’d been knocked out and taken to the AVA Warehouse. And she couldn’t find Sara. This was bad.

 

She was jerked out of her rising panic by a cold hand wrapping itself around her ankle. Ava whirled her head around, eyes widening, breath quickening, as her eyes met a pair identical to her own. The AVA clone from the top of the pile kept their gazes locked as she pulled as hard as she could, bringing Ava crashing onto the pile of clones. Her arms flailed around her as she struggled to climb up and away from the clones, but her appearance seemed to have triggered a reaction. Eyes opened all around her, staring out of cold, unfeeling faces.

 

Ava was hyperventilating as her movements became more frantic, more desperate to escape. She had to get out of here, she had to find Sara, make sure she knew she was the real Ava. Seemingly slowly and all at once, the clones around her began moving and Ava’s panic increased to dangerous levels as she felt cold hands wrapping around her wrists, her ankles, her shoulders, everywhere, as they pulled her down, further into the pile, farther and farther from Sara, from her freedom. Despite her struggles, they were too strong. Ava couldn’t breathe, and as she was pulled deeper in, all she could think was Sara, please, come find me.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ava opened her eyes with a sharp gasp as she remembered everything that had just happened, her eyes frantically moving back and forth in the dark. She was in the clone factory, Sara nowhere to be found, and that…thing, that other her had grabbed her and….

 

She took a deep breath, closing her eyes as she slowly exhaled. She repeated it a few times until she had calmed herself down enough to think instead of panic. Confident she could hold herself together, she lifted her hand to push a stray piece of hair back behind her ear. Or, she tried to. Something was stopping her arm from moving more than an inch away from the wall.

 

She tried her other arm.

 

It didn’t move either.

 

Panicking, Ava tried to move her legs, to at least move something, anything. Something was shackling her arms and legs to the wall, and she couldn’t move.

 

Ava made to move her head, to check what was keeping her bound and how to escape it, but something digging into her neck stopped her before she could move far. She took in a few deep breaths in an attempt to calm her racing heart, this time with much less success than before. She would find a way out of this- she was the Director of the Time Bureau and had escaped worse situations than this before.

 

 

Mentally running through Time Bureau protocol for agent rescue, Ava almost didn’t notice the lights turning on around her, affording her a good look at her surroundings. She opened her eyes and immediately slammed them shut at what she saw. Her field of vision was distorted by a piece of plastic a few inches from her face, but she knew what she had seen.

 

Ava was sick to her stomach. All around her, as far as her eyes could move, she saw herself. In boxes. Barbie doll-like packaging brightly promoting what was inside. Images flashed in her mind as she tried to keep calm.

 Astronaut Ava.

 

Assertive Ava.

 

Executive Ava.

 

Sexy Ava.

 

Ava felt her stomach roll. There was only one reason for a “Sexy” clone. The harder she tried to push the thought out of her mind, the more pronounced it became. She was stuck in her own thoughts and only brought back to the reality of the situation by a familiar voice.

 

“Ava?! Ava where are you?!”

 

Sara. She had come after her. Tears welled up in her eyes in relief. She was going to get out of here, she wasn’t going to end up like them. She was going to go home. With Sara. She tried to call out and get her attention, let her know which one was the real her, but no sound came out. She tried again, harder. Silence. She couldn’t even open her mouth- she was essentially paralysed, every part of her immobile except her eyes, a witness to everything around her but unable to react.

 

“Sara! Thank god!”

 

She didn’t say that. Fear coiled low in Ava’s stomach as her voice- but not her own- once again called out.

 

No. No, this wasn’t happening. This couldn’t be happening.

 

Sara ran towards the voice, stopping right in front of Ava’s eyes. Helpless to do anything, Ava watched in horror as another version of herself came into view, throwing her arms around Sara. Sara wrapped her arms around her and held her close, whispering something into her neck. Sara rose up on her toes to press a kiss to the other Ava’s forehead before grabbing her hand and leading her away. Ava watched in horror and dread.

 

As they walked nearly out of her sight, the other Ava looked over her shoulder, making eye contact with Ava, and winked.

 

 

 

 

Ava woke up, not screaming but sobbing. She took in lungful after lungful of air, but it wasn’t enough. There was a heavy weight across her stomach and over her legs, and she panicked- terrified that she was still in the box, in that place- shoving it as far away from herself as she could manage. In her hurry to get away, she fell off the bed, tangled in the covers, as she wrapped her arms around her knees and tried desperately to breathe.

 

 

Sara woke up immediately- being pushed off Ava in the middle of the night wasn’t something she could easily sleep through, even without her League training. She was awake and alert almost instantly, moving to turn on the light before she’d even properly opened her eyes as she became aware of the sounds around her. As her eyes adjusted to the brightness, her heart broke. Ava was curled in on herself on the floor, body shaking with the force of her sobs.

 

Sara slowed climbed off the bed and made her way to Ava’s side, not touching her, but close enough to offer comfort.

 

“Ava?”

 

Ava didn’t seem to hear, her sobs and shuddering breaths the only sound she could focus on. Sara moved a little closer, trying not to startle her.

 

“Aves?”

 

Ava’s body stiffened, her breath still coming in gasps as she tried to slow it down. She wrapped her arms tighter around her knees, pulling into herself even more. Sara ached at the sight. “Baby,” she breathed out, hand instinctively reaching out to Ava. She stopped herself right before her hand met Ava’s arm, unsure if she would want to be touched. Ava looked up at her, tears streaming down her face, and crumbled into Sara’s arms.

 

Sara pulled Ava into her lap, stroking her hair and softly rubbing nonsense patterns on her back as Ava tried to catch her breath.

 

 

Ava clung to Sara’s shirt until her hands were numb and her knuckles were white. She was vaguely aware of Sara whispering against the crown of her head, but she couldn’t focus enough to understand what she was saying.

 

Several moments passed as they held each other until Ava’s breathing calmed enough for her to breathe normally. She let go of Sara’s shirt with a wince- her death grip had caused her to lose most of the circulation to her hands, though she wasn’t thinking of that at the time. Just of being surrounded by Sara, of feeling safe.

 

Wiping at her eyes, Ava pulled back from Sara’s embrace. She quickly wiped at her eyes and looked away, avoiding Sara’s gaze.

 

“I- I’m sorry, I didn’t mean- it was just….I’m sorry,” Ava whispered, her voice hoarse. Sara sat up on her knees and lifted Ava’s chin up so she could look her in the eyes. She smiled softly and pressed a kiss to Ava’s forehead before grabbing her hand and slowly standing up.

 

“You don’t need to apologize.”

 

She pulled Ava up with her and gently led her back to their bed. Ava remained silent as they settled back in the bed, still shaking slightly and clutching Sara’s hand. Sara tugged gently on their joined hands. “C’mere, love.”

 

Ava wordlessly wrapped herself around her girlfriend, laying her head on Sara’s chest, the reassuring sound of her heartbeat right below her ear. They laid there as Sara softly stroked up and down Ava’s back until Ava stopped shaking.

 

“Do you want to talk about it?” Sara’s voice was quiet but sure.

 

Ava took a deep breath. “Not yet,” she whispered. “I will, but, not just yet, okay?”

 

Sara pressed a light kiss to the top of Ava’s head. “Whatever you need.” They laid, content and safe in each other’s arms, and neither knew quite how long they stayed there.

 

Finally, listening to the familiar sound of Sara’s heartbeat, Ava played with the hem of Sara’s shirt as she explained the nightmare that had terrified her to the point of a panic attack. Sara stayed quiet but tightened her grip on Ava when she mentioned Sara walking off with the other clone.

 

“I thought I was past this- that I had processed being a-” Ava paused, unable to make herself say the word without considerable effort. “-clone. It shouldn’t be bothering me like this anymore.”

 

Sara took hold of Ava’s hand. “There’s no timeline, you know. For how long it should take you to be unaffected by something like this. You get to feel what you feel for however long you need to. Hell, it’s been almost 4 years, and I still have nightmares about the Lazarus Pit. About my life in the League, too. Not to say it won’t get better- it does. They’re not as frequent, not as real, now. But I don’t think you’re ever truly beyond something like that, like what you went through discovering that.” Sara rubbed her thumb over Ava’s knuckles as she spoke, her low voice calming and soft. “But I’m here for you, just like you are for me, for as long as you need. You’ve got me for the good dreams and the nightmares.”

 

Sara moved to turn off the light, letting go of Ava’s hand, but Ava stopped her. “Leave it on- just a little while longer?”

 

Sara nodded. Ava ran her thumb along the exposed strip of skin between Sara’s shorts and shirt absentmindedly. “I know,” she said after a few minutes silence. “I know you’re here for me. That’s why I want the light on for a bit. In the dreams, I couldn’t see you, not until that last one. I just need to know you’re here.”

 

“Always, baby. I’m always gonna be here when you need me. I love you, Aves.”

 

As their breathing began to even out, Ava replied, “I love you too.” Feeling safe and loved, she managed to fall back to sleep, the steady thump of Sara’s heartbeat in her ear a comforting reminder of that.

**Author's Note:**

> Can be found on tumblr at the same username as here and on twitter @chanandaler94


End file.
